Like many young boys, Ali Emadi loved playing with cars. He would line them up and make them zoom around the room for hours.

But Emadi wasn’t just playing around. He was forming ideas that would later help transform the automotive industry for the 21st century.

“When I was just five years old, I remember thinking I have all these electric model cars, so why can’t big cars be electric?” he said. So Emadi, who’s Canada Excellence Research Chair in Hybrid Powertrain, took that simple thought and built his distinguished career on it.

As it stands now, he believes the transportation industry is simply not sustainable, because it relies heavily on fossil fuels. His solution: electrification – hybrid and electric cars.

In his role as Director of MacAUTO at McMaster University, Emadi helps to develop new technologies for more energy-efficient vehicles. His focus is integrating renewable energy in a way that works successfully for the next generation automotive industry, and pulls us away from our dependency on fossil fuels. By creating more advanced, safer, and cost-effective electric vehicles, Emadi hopes to see his ultimate goal realized: a completely sustainable transportation industry.

And, Emadi believes, energy-efficient vehicles don’t have to mean less power or speed, higher costs, or more maintenance. These new technologies will produce cars that succeed in all areas, and it’s happening right here in Canada, he says.

Emadi and his team lead one of the largest program of its kind in North America, developing the most advanced technologies in electric transportation worldwide.